On 1 October 2013 our group of twenty pilgrims walked Stage 27 of the Ignatian Camino from Montserrat to Manresa. In September-October 2013 I was with the group of twenty pilgrims — Dani Chamberlin, Amanda Hickey, Helen Lucas, Jan Sebastian, John Fitzgerald, Joe Taylor, Kay Quisenberry, Larry and Geraldine Naismith, Michael Bertie and Jan Fitzpatrick, Paddy Mugavin, Patrick Hynes, Peter and Chona Walden, Sandra and Vin Dillon, Tracy Ling and Stephen Delbridge — that was the first group to walk the Ignatian Camino from Loyola to Manresa.

Almost three years later, having just completed an eight-day retreat at the Cova de St Ignasi at the International Centre for Ignatian Spirituality in Manresa, Spain, as I looked out my window I had the idea of retracing our steps on the last Stage from Montserrat to Manresa.

The view of Montserrat from my room in the Cova de St Ignasi at the International Centre for Ignatian Spirituality at Manresa, Spain

So, on 16 July 2016, I did.  I took the train to Montserrat and stayed overnight. Then at 7.30am I began to retrace our steps. My sense of direction is not very acute, and I didn’t have Larry Naismith, Michael Bertie and Peter Walden to help with navigation as I had three years ago, so I was concerned about getting lost. However, the Wikiloc app for the iPhone proved to be an incredible help. It warned me when I got off track, which only happened once during the day.

The Wikiloc app for the iPhone

I also had a paper copy of the map in my pocket and Josep Lluis Iriberri SJ’s description of the 27th stage on the official web site:

The descent from Montserrat to Manresa

Some of the track was as I remembered it, but some of the route has, I think,  been changed as you get closer to Manresa.

The hotel I stayed in at Montserrat

The entrance to the Basilica at Montserrat

The interior of the Basilica at Montserrat. The Black Madonna is above the altar.

The Benedictine Monastery at Montserrat

I left the hotel at the Benedictine Monastery at Montserrat at 7.00am and went over to the Basilica to make a visit to the same Black Madonna as Ignatius did in 1522. He made a general confession and then an all-night vigil before the image of the Black Madonna. Sensing a desire to spend a few days in a hospice recording some reflections, he then made his way to a nearby town called Manresa. He would remain there almost eleven months, and it was here that Ignatius wrote down his experiences of God, which became the Spiritual Exercises. I wanted to retrace his path too.

The Black Madonna at the Basilica at Montserrat

It is seven-thirty in the morning and I am ready to begin my walk

A restaurant perched on the mountain side at Montserrat

The view down the mountain

Then I walked down the road through the car parks and headed towards the hermitage of St. Cecilia about 3.5km away. At the shrine of St. Cecilia I left the road and took a track paved down to the right, which led to Sant Cristofol.

It was on this section that the decent was steep and the walking very slow as I picked my way down rocks and stones. I was very grateful for the walking poles, which I purchased from an Arab shopkeeper in Jerusalem. It would have been almost impossible for me to go down without the steadying help of walking poles.

Looking back up at the mountain

We stopped here in 2013 to look back at Montserrat

I stopped for a cool drink at a roadside restaurant called El Raco. I remember that we stopped there in 2013.

I stopped for a drink at El Raco

After 14.3km I reached Castellgalí. Only ten kilometres to go and the sun was getting very hot just before midday. I again purchased a cool drink. I was pleased that I did because by the time I got to Manresa I had drunk the entire 3 litres of water in my Camelbac.

Coming into Castellgali

Looking back at Montserrat from Castellgali

It was at Castellgalí that we stopped in 2013 stopped in a small park. Here Helen and Tracy went on the seesaw. It is still functional.

There was a water faucet there at which I drenched my head. That is still functional too.

The tap is still providing cool water

Me keeping cool in the middle of a very hot afternoon back in 2013

Trying to keep cool in 34C heat

Just after Castellgalí the track follows an old Roman road, which in medieval times was the road which pilgrims from Manresa took on their way up to the monastery at Montserrat. How did they manage the climb up? I found the climb down difficult enough.

The old Roman road just outside Castellgali

There is a section of the track that has changed, for the better. In 2013 we had to walk along a highway for about 500 metres with traffic speeding past. It was quite risky. How concrete barriers have been installed to allow pedestrians some protection.

One of the hazards is speeding traffic —now pilgrims are protected somewhat by concrete blocks

On the way into Manresa I passed an historical marker, which commemorates the martyrdom of two Dominican Sisters of the Annunciation from Manresa in1936 during the Spanish Civil War.

The place where two Dominican Sisters were martyred in 1936

Some shade was very welcome by early afternoon

Finally I get a glimpse of the city of Manresa.

My first view of Manresa

This is the stone wall where we stopped under some shade in 2013 and waited for Larry Naismith and Stephen Delbridge to catch up with us.

The spot where we regrouped on 1 October 2013 in order to all arrive at Manresa at the same time

Basílica de Santa María (L) and the Cova de Sant Ignatius (R). Nearly there.

Next I saw the Tower of Santa Caterina, a former lookout tower. From there you get a magnificent view of Manresa including the Basilica of La Seu and the retreat house which houses La Cova de Sant Ignasi. Down by the Cardoner River is the Old Bridge which I crossed just as Ignatius of Loyola did almost 500 years ago.

The view of the Cova de St Ignasi International Centre of Ignatian Spirituality from under the bridge

John Ng, Andy Walsh, Sarah Davies, Fr Josep Lluis Iriberri SJ and Gillian McIlwain at Manresa. The Jesuit Retreat House is the large building to the right of Gillian. It is built over the cave where Saint Ignatius had some of his mystical visions.

Gillian McIlwain writes:

Dear Michael,
We have finally made it to Manresa! Thank you for your encouragement. 
We are thrilled, as a group, to have completed the Ignatian Camino, as you would understand.

Fr Iriberri SJ has been a wonderful leader and guide. And Slow Walking have been excellent in their support and planning. We have much to share with you when we return to Australia.

Warmest Wishes, 
The Five Ignatian Pilgrims. 

Fr Iriberri’s handiwork on Sarah’s boot on the last leg just before Manresa. The bailing twine kept the sole from coming away from the upper.

Sarah writes:

“Day 24: Montserrat to Manresa. Our final full day walking, completing the Ignatian Camino.  My boots only just made it.  A temporary glue fix in Zaragoza came unstuck, so for the last 10 km they were held together with a piece of string!”

The curious cow

Sarah writes:

“Day 16: Fraga to Lleida. Crossed the border today into Catalunya and back into more fertile farming land along the River Segre. This curious cow seemed to be raising and eyebrow and asking, ‘What are you doing here?’ A good question to ask on the Camino!”

Local farmland

Sarah writes:

“Day 17: Lleida to El Palau d’Anglesola. Continuing through farming country. Plenty of fruit trees, wheat, alfalfa and piggeries to add to the country sounds and smells.”

Wheat and poppies

Sarah writes:

“Day 18: Palau d’Anglesola to Verdu. Wheat, oceans of green and gold wheat with some occasional poppies also sneaking in on the act.”

Mosaic of Saint Peter Claver in Verdu

Sarah writes:

“Day 19: Rest Day in Verdu, a pretty little town of 1,00 people known for its pottery and for being the birth place of Saint Peter Claver, an inspiring Jesuit priest who dedicated his life to ministering to Africans taken to Colombia as part of the inhuman slave trade of the early 17th Century.”

Cervera up ahead (see the tower on the right)

Sarah writes:

“Day 20: Verdu to Cervera.  Here we are with our target in sight.”

A snail on the trail

Sarah writes:

“Day 21: Cervera to Jorba. Some of the small things on the way.”

A view of Montserrat (the serrated mountains)

Sarah writes:

“Day 22: Jorba to Montserrat. On the ascent to the Benedictine monastery where Saint Ignatius made his final decision to change his life. Our physical pilgrimage is nearing its end, but the interior journey will last for some time yet I think.”

Goats which live on or about Montserrat

Sarah writes:

“Day 23: A full day’s rest at Montserrat, though I still felt like an early morning walk. Coming around a corner I had a feeling someone was watching me….”

A panoramic view of Montserrat L to R, Fr Josep Lluis Iriberri SJ, Andy Walsh and Sarah Davies (photo taken by John Ng)

Fr Josep Lluis Iriberri SJ

John Ng writes: “A cool smile of Fr Josep after walking 31.2 km today.”

John Ng, Fr Josep Lluis Iriberri SJ, Sarah Davies and Gillian McIlwain with cyclists

Gillian McIlwain writes:

“Here we are with a group of cycling Ignatian pilgrims who had left Loyola only 1 week ago and had been watching out for us along the way. They are a group of cyclists from Manresa who drove their cars and bikes to Loyola and started from there. 

They had written to Fr Iriberri SJ before they left and were expecting to see us along the way — of course they were thrilled when they found us at lunch just outside La Panadella! They passed us a few times between our lunch stop and Jorba. 

We are setting out for Montserrat tomorrow and are ready to change our clothes and become the true pilgrims walking to Jerusalem!”

Sancho Panza

Sarah writes:

“Gailur to Alagon. If you know Don Quixite, we came across his sidekick Sancho Panza today. He looked like he was with us on our pilgrimage journey.”

Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza

Sarah writes:

“Day 12 — Rest Day in Zaragoza. We visited the patroness of Spain here at the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar on the bank of the Ebro Rover. For the rowing girls, if you look carefully you can see a boat on racks in the foreground. I didn’t see anyone actually on the river though, despite the good weather.”

Flowers by the roadside

Fields that have been bailed

One small dandelion

Fellow pilgrim with Fr Josep Lluis Iriberri SJ

Gillian McIlwain writes:

“Just after leaving Logrono this morning we met this fellow pilgrim doing the Ignatian Camino on his own. He was averaging 40 kms each day and had left Loyola only 5 days earlier!! Wonderful.  We are foot sore but enjoying both our inner and outer challenging journeys.”

Storks guarding their young

Sarah Davies writes:

“From Alfara, the place of many storks, to Tudela.  Storks guarding their young on church spires and any other high spot they could find.”

Wine country

Sarah writes:

“Still in wine country today, walking beside rocky hills with many vultures circling above. Thankfully all made it without providing them a meal!”

Leaving Laguardia behind

Sarah writes:

“Leaving Laguardia behind we head through wine country to Navarrete where we encounter pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago.”

Time to smell the roses

A Basque farm house

Andy Walsh on the road from Loyola to Zumarraga on Day 1

The scene from the top of the mountain on Day 2 (that’s Fr Josep Lluis Iriberri SJ taking in the view)

Wild flowers on the mountain

Sarah Davies writes:

“Magnificent views again today, but there was also great beauty at our feet.”

Sarah Davies having a rest on the Ignatian Camino

Sarah writes:

“When we are not on the top of the mountains we are walking though beautiful forests. Here I am in all my walking gear.”

Wheat fields

The door to the church of Santa Maria de los Reyes

Altarpiece at the church of Santa Maria de los Reyes showing scenes from the Gospel

Sarah Davies writes:

“On our rest day in Laguardia we had some tourist time visiting the old city including the church of Santa Maria de los Reyes.”

Gillian McIlwain writes:

“After a long, long, walk the pilgrims raced for their food, while Fr Iriberri, coming along behind encouraged them to gather for thanks and prayer for the pilgrimage BEFORE lunch.”

A civilised lunch on the Ignatian Camino

Today was our final stage of the Ignatian Camino, the descent from Montserrat to Manresa. Before we left we walked over to the Basilica and venerated the Black Madonna.

The Black Madonna at Montserrat

A look back at our hotel tucked in under the mountain

Amanda looking back at Montserrat (the serrated mountain)

I anticipated that this would be an easy day, but it was difficult. The weather was hot — Larry Naismith said it was 34°C  — and it was humid. It felt as though it was the hottest day we had walked in.

Me keeping cool in the middle of a very hot afternoon

Trying to keep cool in 34C heat

The track down from Montserrat was very rocky

John Fitzgerald, Amanda Hickey and Patrick Hynes walking down an old Roman road built in the Third Century

Our first view of the Centre of Ignatian Spirituality at Manresa

The bridge across the Cardoner River

Today we were following in the footsteps of Ignatius of Loyola who we know walked from Montserrat to Manresa 
on March 25th, 1522. He lived in Manresa for the next eleven months. His favourite place to pray was the Cave; a natural grotto facing Montserrat and over which the Church, the Jesuit Residence and the Retreat House are built. His experiences there would bear fruit in his spiritual masterpiece, the Spiritual Exercises.

Michael Bertie told us at dinner this evening that, according to his GPS, we have walked 686 km since we left Loyola.

This evening I said Mass  for the group in the cave where Ignatius composed his Spiritual Exercises. It was a great privilege.

Michael Smith, Tracy Ling and Paddy Mugavin Mass in the cave at Manresa

Mass in the cave with Tracy, Paddy and Amanda

Late in life, Ignatius dictated a short Autobiography. In it he summarized the depth of his experiences at Manresa, and in particular while he sat beside the River Cardoner:

He sat down for a little while with his face toward the river…While he was seated there, the eyes of his understanding began to be opened; not that he saw any vision, but he understood and learned many things…with so great an enlightenment that everything seemed new to him.” He added, “even if he gathered up all the various helps he may have had from God, he does not think he had got as much as at that one time.

Contemplation to attain the love of God

Today I suggested an “Ignatian repetition” — we repeated the same meditation as yesterday, but this time we focused on the time of pilgrimage. We reviewed the various stages of our journey and we thanked God for the experiences we have had and the blessings we received as we prepare to return to our everyday routine.

The grace. Today I ask the Father to give me an intimate knowledge of the many gifts I have received during this pilgrimage so that, filled with gratitude for all of these, I may love and serve the Divine Majesty in everything I undertake.

I also spoke to the group about the difficulties of re-entry after an experience like this.

We had a half an hour sleep in this morning because of our very long and tiring day yesterday and the fact that we all got to bed late after a late dinner. We gathered outside the hotel at 8.30am. Led by Fermin Lopetegui, our Basque guide, we followed in the footsteps of Saint Ignatius as we walked through picturesque countryside to the Benedictine Basilica of Montserrat.

Michael standing beside a sign in Catalan announcing the Ignatian Camino

Pilgrims coming around the bend

Today was a difficult stage with some steep sections. Along the way, however, we enjoyed the craggy mountain scenery of the Montserrat mountain which rises majestically up to 1,235 metres. The bizarre rock formations in Montserrat create a unique universe in stone, and the landscape and the views are breathtaking.

Rock climbers on Montserrat, one waving at us

Our first view of Montserrat

The Monastery complex has been one of Spain’s most important pilgrimage sites for hundreds of years, due to its famous 12th century Romanesque wooden carving of the revered Virgen Moreneta, the “Black Virgin”.
 The history of Montserrat dates to the  9th century, when a small group of shepherd children saw a bright light descending from the sky in the Montserrat mountains. Montserrat was an important stop on the pilgrimage for Saint Ignatius, and it is said that he experienced a vision of the Virgin Mary and infant Jesus while at the shrine.

 The cave chapel known as “Santa Cova”, is where (according to legend) the Virgin Mary was seen by the shepherds.

At Montserrat Ignatius laid down his sword at the shrine of the Black Madonna in a symbolic embodiment of his surrendering his former courtly and military life for a new life devoted to the service of Jesus.

We are staying at the Hotel Abat Cisneros  in Montserrat which is housed within a converted monastery building that has welcomed pilgrims since the 16th  century, the hotel is situated in the heart of the Sanctuary of Montserrat, adjacent to the Basilica.



At 6.45pm we went to Vespers with the Benedictine Monks in the Basilica who were joined by a boy’s choir afterwards.

After Vespers I said Mass for some members of the group in a chapel that is behind the statue of the Black Madonna.

Contemplation to attain the love of God

Today as we walked we prayed the Contemplation to attain the Love of God.

For Ignatius, God is in the wild flowers we see along the tracks, God is in the river stones on the pathway, God is in the clear blue skies overhead, God is in the grandeur of Montserrat. In short, God can be found in all things. Today we pray on what God gives to us and what we give to God.

Below I give the modern translation of Saint Ignatius’s Contemplatio, by David Fleming SJ, in his excellent book Draw me into your friendship—The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius: a literal translation and a contemporary reading, St. Louis: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1996.

Preliminary Note:  Before this exercise is presented, two observations should be made:

1. the first is that love ought to show itself in deeds over and above words;
2. the second is that love consists in a mutual sharing of goods.  For example, as a lover one gives and shares with the beloved something of one’s own personal gifts or some possession which one has or is able to give; so, too, the beloved shares in a similar way with the lover.  In this way, one who has knowledge shares it with the one who does not, and this is true for honors, riches and so on.  In love, one always wants to give to the other.

Preparation:  I take the usual time to place myself reverently in the presence of my Lord and my God, begging that everything in my day is directed more and more to God’s service and praise.

At this time, I may find it especially helpful as I enter into this prayer to imagine myself standing before God and all the saints who are praying for me.

Grace:  I beg for the gift of an intimate knowledge of all the goods which God lovingly shares with me.  Filled with gratitude, I want to be empowered to respond just as totally in my love and service.

The Setting:  There are four different focal points which provide the subject matter for my prayer:

1.  God’s gifts to me

God creates me out of love which desires nothing more than a return of love on my part.  So much does God love me that even though I turn away and make little response, this Giver of all good gifts continues to be my Savior and Redeemer.

All my natural abilities and gifts, along with the gifts of Baptism and the Eucharist and the special graces lavished upon me, are only so many signs of how much God our Lord shares divine life with me and wants to share ever more.  My consolation:  who I am by the grace of God!

If I were to respond as a reasonable person, what could I give in return to such a Lover?  Moved by love, I may want to express my own love-response in the following words:

2.  God’s self-giving to me  

God not only gives gifts to me, but God literally gifts me with the fullness of divine life in Jesus.  God’s only Son is not only the Word in whom all things are created, but also the Word who becomes flesh and dwells with us.  Jesus gives himself to me so that his Body and Blood become the food and drink of my life. Jesus pours out upon me his Spirit so that I can cry out “Abba, Father.”  God loves me so much that I become a dwelling place or a temple of God—growing in an ever-deepening realization of the image and likeness of God which is the glory shining our of human creation.

If I were to make only a reasonable response, what could I do?  Moved by love, I may find that I can respond best in words like the Take and Receive.

3.  God’s labours for me

God loves me so much, even entering into the very struggle of life.  Like a potter with clay, like a mother in childbirth, or like a mighty force blowing life into dead bones, God labors to share divine life and love.  God’s labors are writ large in Jesus’ passion and death on a cross in order to bring forth the life of the Resurrection.

Once more I question myself how I can make a response.  Let me look again to the expression of the Take and Receive.

4.  God as Giver and Gift

God’s love shines down upon me like the light rays from the sun, or God’s love is poured forth lavishly like a fountain spilling forth its waters into an unending stream.  Just as I see the sun in its rays and the fountain in its waters, so God pours forth a sharing in divine life in all the gifts which showered upon me.  God’s delight and joy is to be with the ones called God’s children—to be with me.  God cannot do enough to speak out and show love for me—ever calling and inviting me to a fuller and better life, a sharing in divine life.

What can I respond to such a generous Giver?  Let me once again consider the expression of the Take and Receive.  I close the prayer with an Our Father.